


Muhammara is a middle eastern red pepper walnut sauce that is similar to the Spanish romesco. Pickled cauliflower is a nice garnish and is optional.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes +/-
Serves: 2-4
Equipment:
1/2 sheet pan/cookie sheet, Parchment paper, Blender or food processor, Large mixing bowl, Tongs for removing vegetables
Ingredients
- For the Sauce:
- 2 Red Bell Peppers, roasted, peeled and deseeded
- 1 Bunch Scallions (5 or 6)
- 2 tsp Ancient Halaby Middle Eastern Chile Blend
- 1 cup Roasted Walnuts
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 Tbsp Pomegranate Molasses or Honey
- ½ cup of Olive Oil
- Salt to taste
- For the Roasted Vegetables:
- 1 head Broccoli, cut into even medium-sized florets
- 1 head Cauliflower, cut into even medium-sized florets
- 4- 6 Sweet Peppers
- 1- 2 Red Onions, coarsely chopped
- 1 head Garlic, peeled and cloves removed
- 1 can Chickpeas
- Olive Oil
- Salt
Steps
- Roasted Vegetables:
- Preheat oven to 400℉.
- Toss broccoli, cauliflower, sweet peppers, onion and garlic cloves into a large mixing bowl. Toss with salt and a liberal coat of olive oil.
- Spread onto parchment coated sheet pan or cookie sheet. Don’t overcrowd, use two baking sheets if necessary.
- Roast for 10–15 minutes until vegetables begin to get brown around the edges.
- Add drained chickpeas in the last few minutes of cooking to warm.
- While vegetables are cooking, make the sauce:
- Blend all sauce ingredients EXCEPT THE OLIVE OIL in a food processor or high powered blender until pureed into a paste.
- Add olive oil in the last few pulses.
- Add salt to taste.
- Spoon Muhammara onto serving platter and scatter vegetables on top.
Things to remember
- For the Vegetables:
- Sweet peppers are small colorful peppers often sold pre-bagged in the produce section in the summertime. They are great for tossing on the barbeque.
- For even cooking, it is always a smart plan to rotate your sheet pans 180 degrees halfway through roasting (most ovens have uneven heat back to front and side to side)
- Add the drained chickpeas in the last 3–5 minutes of roasting as they are already cooked
- For the Sauce:
- You can find roasted walnuts in the bulk section of your grocery store (or buy raw and roast them yourself)
- Pomegranate molasses is a sweet reduced pomegranate syrup and can be found in Middle Eastern markets or gourmet grocery stores. It lasts indefinitely in a dark, cool dry location in the cabinet and is a versatile condiment to have on hand
- For easily peeled, deseeded and roasted peppers: Roast whole peppers for 10–15 minutes in a 400℉ oven until soft. Remove from oven and immediately place into a ziplock bag or closed container. After they cool, the skin will lift easily and the seeds will also remove easily
- Olive oil is added last as prolonged blending can release bitter flavors